Having explored Sartre's encounter with post-modernity, we now broach the question of psychoanalysis. One hallmark of post-War French thought is its engagement with the Freudian unconscious. Heidegger had rejected Freud's theories as a prime example of "the dictatorship of scientific thinking" extending itself to human existence. Inspired by phenomenology and Gestalt psychology, Sartre likewise rejects the notion of the unconscious. Although he does adapt aspects of Freud's method, he places subjectivity and freedom--and not unconscious drives--at the centre of human personality. By contrast, French structuralists embrace the Freudian discovery, not in the least because it accomplishes a subversion of subjectivity. Drawing on Saussure, they seek to reframe the unconscious within a broadly linguistic framework. After looking at Sartre's 'existential' psychoanalysis, we'll dive into Lacan's proverbial "return to Freud" through some of his more accessible texts. Keeping in mind the Sartrean background, we'll then take up receptions, readings and critiques of Lacan, including Zizek's Hegelian interpretation, Badiou's philosophical reading, Kristeva's extension into the realm of the abject and the semiotic, and Deleuze & Guattari's sharp critique of psychoanalysis.
Sartre, "Existential Psychoanalysis"
Sartre, "Bad Faith"
Lacan - 3 interviews
Lacan, Television
Lacan on philosophy and The-Names-of-the-Father
Zizek on Hegel (from Sublime Object)
Zizek, "From Symptom to Sinthome" (ibid)
Badiou, from In Praise of Love
Kristeva, "Approaching Abjection"
Kristeva, "The Semiotic and the Symbolic"
Deleuze and Parnet, "Dead Psychoanalysis: Analyse"
Deleuze and Guattari on schizoanalysis